JP2010507883A - Lightning protection device with air terminal that reacts in humidity / dry field - Google Patents

Abstract

The lightning protection device of the present invention includes a grounded Franklin rod and a conductive device that is associated with the Franklin rod and defines a predetermined overall shape having a predetermined peripheral size. The lightning protection device limits the amount of corona discharge under the electric field on the surrounding ground that accompanies bad lightning weather when the leader start request in the upward direction remains unchanged during the lightning leader decline period Specially devised to do. The lightning protection device also has a corona onset voltage that is substantially insensitive to contamination from pollution, insects, pests, or water drops.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates generally to lightning protection devices, and more particularly to improved lightning protection devices.

  It is well known that the majority of lightning discharges are mainly related to negatively charged clouds. The two main categories of lightning shocks are the more extensive impacts associated with upward flashes from very high structures and negative stepped leaders. That is, “Modeling of lightning generation for high-rise buildings, Part I: Theory” (Farouk AMRizk, IEEE paper, Power Delivery, Vol. 9, No. 1, January 1994, pp. 162-171 ), And "Modeling of Lightning Occurrence for High-Rise Buildings, Part II: Applications" (Farouk AMRizk, IEEE papers, Vol. 9, No. 1, January 1994, pp. 172-193) Has been. The negative descending leader is surrounded by a negative space charge sheath that induces a positive charge on all of the grounded objects as the negative leader approaches the ground. Become. The higher grounded structure and its nearby surroundings will be the path of the descending negative leader, and the charge induced on the grounded structure will have a greater impact.

  It is known that the lightning strike current is a statistical variable with a median value of 25-35 KA and a wide variation from 2-3 KA to 2-3 KA. The radius that the structure attracts, that is, the distance of the maximum radius around the structure that captures the leader where the structure descends, will increase with both the impact current and the height of the structure, and this impact current will be Related to negative space charge jackets.

  In recent years, based on progress in the study of physical destruction of long air gaps, there has been substantial progress in understanding the mechanisms in various ground structures where lightning strikes. In particular, the role played by grounded objects within the impact mechanism is becoming clearer. Details are described in "Modeling of Transmission Lines Exposed to Direct Lightning Strike" (Farouk AMRizk, IEEE paper, Power Supply, Vol. 5, October 1990, pp. 1983-1997). Indicates that the attractive radius includes two parts. That is, the major part that the positive leader from the structure spreads and the lesser part that constitutes the final jump between the tip of the negative leader and the tip of the positive leader Includes two parts.

  Electrostatic field analysis shows that the initial increase in electric field at the surface and near-field of some grounded structure is caused by the cloud charge and / or the negative reader moving to the grounded structure. It is mainly caused by the positive charge introduced, indicating that the amount of electric field there is far beyond the background electric field because of the cloud charge and / or the descending negative reader itself. The onset of the electric field generated by the induced charge depends on the structural characteristics of the grounded object, but causes the formation of a corona discharge and positive streamer when ionization of ambient air occurs. Achieved. The length of the positive streamer can grow to the meter range, depending on the shape of the grounded structure and the induced positive charge.

  "A model for switching impulse reader initiation and destruction in long air gaps" (Farouk AMRizk, IEEE papers, Vol. 4, No. 1, January 1989, pages 596-606) and For details, refer to “Intensity of switching impulse of air insulator: Criteria for starting leader” (Farouk AMRizk, IEEE paper, power supply, Vol. 4, No. 4, October 1989, pp. 2187-2195). As described, when a positive streamer arrives at a critical size, a highly induced stem is formed at the streamer junction of the structure, resulting in a positive leader. . Contrary to a positive streamer with an average slope of about 400-500 KV / m, the leader slope is a function of both the leader current and the duration that the current is present. For a current of 1 A, the leader slope is 30-50 kV / m, ie about one tenth of the positive streamer slope, but for a leader current of the order of 100 A, the leader slope is 2- It descends with a low slope equal to 3 kV / m. This means that, contrary to a positive streamer, a positive leader can travel a distance in the range of 100 m without requiring an unrealistic high potential.

  It is important to note that not all positive leaders originating from the grounding structure will complete a trajectory that collides with the descending negative leader in the final jump. As the positive leader moves farther away from the structure, this movement is increasingly governed by space potential and electric field parameters beyond the leader tip. The leader tip is increasingly determined by the charge of the descending leader and is less determined by the grounded structure. When the situation becomes unsuitable for continued propagation, the positive leader stops and the associated grounded structure that started the positive streamer / positive leader process is no longer subjected to lightning.

  An object that has been struck by a downward negative lightning has "successfully" created a long positive streamer that, due to the induced positive charge, results in the formation of a positive leader. This positive leader travels in an increasing electric field area to meet the approaching descending negative lightning leader for a so-called final jump. This final jump occurs when the average voltage slope between the tip of the rising positive leader and the tip of the falling negative lightning leader reaches 500-600 kV / m. Thus, when maximizing the possibility of a lightning strike to a lightning rod relative to the corresponding possibility of a protected object, the target is a streamer / leader whose rod tip condition is long and positive. Would be very advantageous when it is ideal to produce

  Lightning protection practices can be divided into two broad categories. The first is the various implementations of Franklin rods or overhead ground wires, the purpose of which is to provide a preferential path to the ground for lightning strike currents to prevent possible damage. It is what. For the most part, these systems cannot claim to have an impact on the potential for lightning strikes.

  It should be noted that the function of a conventional lightning rod is influenced by the reaction to the surrounding ground electric field that precedes the generation of a downward stepped leader. The ambient ground electric field is usually on the order of several hundred V / m in fine weather, but may change within a range of 2 KV / m-20 Kv / m due to charging with clouds preceding lightning. This is explained by G. Simpson in "Atmospheric electricity in unstable weather" (Geophysics / Academic Journal, British Meteorological Agency, London, 84, 1949, pp. 1-51).

  The electric field changes at a relatively slow time compared to a continuous electric field change while the leader descends and can last up to several minutes during a thunder storm. This is described by R.B.Anderson in “Thunder Measurement Techniques” (No. 1, Chapter 13, edited by R.H. Golde, 1977, p. 441). However, during successive lightning discharges, cloud charging and regeneration will generate a slow ambient electric field at intervals of about 10 seconds. This is described in detail by M.A.Uman and V.A.Rakov in “A Critical Review of New Approaches to Lightning Protection” (American Meteorological Society, December 2002, pp. 1809–1820). From the above, it is clear that lightning rods are generally subject to mixed stresses, i.e. they follow a very fast component by a descending leader, with a component that slowly changes with the electric field on the surrounding ground. It is. Lightning rods are self-protecting by generating important space charges from the surrounding ground electric field. This is described in CB Moore, GD Aulich in “Measurement of Lightning Rods Responding to Proximity Impact” (Geophysics Research Letter, Vol. 27, No. 10, May 15, 2000, pages 1487–1490). , And by W, Rison. The self-protection will react to the descending stepped leader and prevent the formation of the desired streamer / leader. This opinion has been confirmed by high voltage experiments with long air gaps under mixed voltage, which includes: “With large air gaps with DC voltage and switching surge superimposed on DC voltage. N. Knudsen and F. IIiceto in the “Flash Over Test” (IEEE paper, PAS-89, May / June 1970, pp. 781-788).

  In the above test, the corona space charge generated by the positive DC voltage is preceded by the application of a positive switching impulse that leads to an increase in the starting voltage of the reader, correspondingly compounded in the long air gap. Adding stress to increasing the breakdown voltage. This is described in the last cited reference above.

  Furthermore, “Strength of switching surge in a large air gap: Physical method” (IEEE paper, power device and system relations, PAS-95, No. 2, March / April 1976, pp. 512-524) ), As described by G. Carrara and L. Thione, destructive testing with positive switching impulses in large air gaps and modeling of the accompanying phenomena, regardless of gap length, It was confirmed that the leader starting voltage is independent of the radius of curvature of the electrode under high stress as long as it stays below a certain critical value. For electrode radii below a certain critical value, the corona onset voltage is lower than the leader onset voltage, so the corona discharge will precede the formation of the leader. For a rod with a radius equal to or greater than one of the critical values, the corona onset voltage and the leader onset voltage will match.

  "Modeling of transmission line exposure to direct lightning strike" (Farouk AMRizk, IEEE paper, power supply, Vol. 5, October 1990, 1983-1997), and "Initiation of switching impulse reader and In the “Model for Fracture of Long Air Gap” (Farouk AMRizk, IEEE Paper, Power Supply, Vol. 4, No. 1, January 1989, pp. 596-606), one approach is to determine the length of the air gap ( In other words, it proposes to form a dependency on the starting voltage of the positive leader (thunder rod above the ground). The above references also provide a way to determine the critical radius value for the lightning rod gap length or lightning rod height above the ground.

  Another variation of Franklin Rod is the Early Streamer Emission System, which uses the French standard NFC-17-102 “Early Streamer Emitter Terminal, "Protection of structures and open areas against" (published in English in July 1995). The idea here is that when there are several ways to start the streamer process earlier, this is what makes the lightning rod more efficient. However, the initiation of an appropriately sized early streamer does not guarantee a continuous connection process, even when led to the formation of an upward positive leader. In the short time after the upward leader leaves the grounded structure, the propagation of the leader is not due to the initial state in the grounded structure, but due to the ambient electric field conditions generated by the descending stepped leader. Will be suppressed. An upward leader generated too early will be easily interrupted and will not lead to a continuous connection process that ends with a final jump between the upward leader and the descending leader.

  Another variation of the Franklin rod described in US Pat. No. 6,320,119 (Gumley application) is that the electric field to which the lightning protection device is exposed is sufficient to trigger the streamer / reader propagation. In the meantime, it attempts to limit the amount of corona discharge through the use of a curvilinear conductive surface having a size sufficient to limit corona activity. However, this approach is deficient in considering the effect of contamination of the curved conductive surface by pests, insects, and water drops normally associated with lightning. These contaminations will reduce the corona onset voltage at the large curved conductive surface which tends to approach the onset voltage of the lightning rod in normal conditions. For this reason, lightning protection devices are simply moistened or contaminated, and the device eliminates the corona in a typical ambient ground electric field that would defeat the purpose of a conductive surface with a large curvilinear radius. Will be generated.

  Another broad category of lightning protection practices can be referred to as “dissipation systems”, US Pat. No. 5,043,527 (Carpenter application), US Pat. No. 4,910,636 (Sadler et al.), And US Patent No. 4,605,814 (Gillem application) states that. These systems use wire or rod points or tips to generate space charge. There are several conflicting texts that may or may not have a scientific basis in how the inventive device works. Some dissipative systems have proposed the claim that space charge generation can neutralize the negative charge of the cloud and, as a result, reduce lightning, which is unrealistic Task. Another dissipative system reduces the dispersion of ions from the protected structure by blowing the deposited charge downward, or reduces the potential difference between the charged cloud and the protected structure, or Proposes a minimizing claim.

  The above assertion is of course physically meaningless, because the charge induced on the grounded structure (image) is the charge induced in the cloud or the descending leader stays and the ambient air This is because it is a suppressed charge that stays in place as long as it cannot be dispersed. Furthermore, it is a definite scientific fact that metals do not release positive ions. On the contrary, the positive space charge is formed by an ionization process, which produces electrons that are collected at the electrodes (structure) and injected into the ground leaving the positive ion space charge in the surrounding air. Also, changing the potential between the cloud and the grounded object inevitably means an unrealistic task that changes the potential of the cloud. This is because the grounded structure, as specified, is equal to the ground potential and always remains at the ground potential, unless it is impacted by lightning.

  Accordingly, there is a need to provide an improved lightning protection device that would be more efficient than known prior art devices.

  The object of the present invention relates to the control of corona initiation and leader initiation in various environmental conditions.

Accordingly, the object of the present invention provides the following technical features.
• Lightning rods limit the amount of corona discharge below the surrounding ground associated with bad lightning weather conditions during the period of lightning leader decline, when the upward leader initiation requirements remain unchanged.
The lightning rod ensures that the corona onset voltage in the rod is not substantially affected by pollution, insects, pests, or contamination from water drops.

According to the object of the present invention, the following lightning protection device is provided.
The lightning protection device includes a grounded Franklin rod and a conductive device attached to the Franklin rod and defining a predetermined overall shape having a predetermined peripheral size. The conductive device has a predetermined position above the ground where the continuous upward leader starting spatial potential is less than the spatial potential of the maximum electric field of the surrounding ground, so in both dry and wet conditions The protective device has a shape and size such that the corona start space potential of the protection device matches the continuous upward leader start space potential.
Further, the conductive device may have a corona start space of the protection device for other predetermined positions above the ground where the continuous upward leader start space potential exceeds the space potential of the maximum electric field of the surrounding ground. The potential is above the space potential of the maximum electric field of the surrounding ground and below the continuous upward leader start space potential, and the corona start space potential of the protective device is a surface protrusion for contamination. And have a shape and size that are substantially unreactive.

  In a preferred embodiment, the conductive device includes a plurality of metallic toroids, each toroid being associated with the Franklin rod in a fixed spatial relationship. More preferably, each of the toroids has a predetermined major diameter and a predetermined minor diameter and is arranged to define the overall shape as spherical or elliptical.

In a more preferred embodiment, the maximum space potential when the maximum ambient electric field E _gm and the effective height of the Franklin rod from the ground is h is defined by U _gm = E _gm · h or a continuous positive reader The starting potential U _Ic is defined by U _Ic = 1556 / (1 + 3.89 / h), (kV, m). The maximum electric field satisfies E _ci (r) = 2300 [1 + 0.224 / (2r) ^0.37 ], (kV / m, m), where E _ci represents the corona starting electric field, and r is Indicates the small radius of the toroid.

  The present invention and various related advantages will be better understood by reading the following non-limiting description of preferred embodiments made with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a side view of a lightning protection device installed on the ground according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 4 is a side view of a lightning protection device mounted on the top of a structure to be protected according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the lightning protection device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

  While the present invention will be described in connection with the examples, it will be understood that this description is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to the scope of the examples. Rather, the description is intended to cover all alternatives, modifications, and equivalent embodiments as defined in the appended claims.

  In the description that follows, like functions in the drawings are given like reference numerals, and for the sake of clarity, some elements are identified when they are already identified in the preceding figures. May not be mentioned in later figures.

The present invention relates to a lightning protection device, and also to a device called an air terminal, which satisfies the following conditions that are considered necessary to characterize an optimal design.
1. Regardless of the position, the air terminal is not subject to corona by being exposed to the space potential caused by the actual value of the electric field on the surrounding ground prior to the stepped leader descent. Also, as will be shown below, the above requirement can satisfy an effective height h from the ground, or an effective height from a large grounded structure that does not exceed a certain restricted height ho. Satisfaction h can be satisfied. The above requirement will ensure that positive upward leader initiation is prevented from the slow-changing ambient electric field and prevents the self-defense tendency of the air terminal.
2. Because of the effective air terminal height that exceeds the limits set above, the corona onset voltage of the air terminal electrode is the spatial potential at the air terminal location above the ground or grounded structure. Because of this, it will be required to match the leader start voltage. On the other hand, this requirement will ensure that there is no generation of corona space charge, which makes the lightning protection device self-protecting from lightning strikes and limiting the distance of attraction.
3. The lightning protection device will be substantially unresponsive to rain drops and other protrusions due to contaminants that tend to significantly reduce the corona onset field on large smooth electrodes. This requirement is important. This is because lightning is usually accompanied by rain, and small conductive protrusions cannot be avoided under real field conditions.

The effective height will be determined as follows.
1. For an air terminal on a flat ground, the effective height h will be the physical height of the air terminal.
2. For an air terminal above an elongated structure on flat ground, the effective height h will be the sum of the physical height of the air terminal and the elongated structure.
3. For large structures where the ceiling dimensions are larger than the length of the air terminal, the effective height would be the physical length of the air terminal as in (1) above.
4). For topologies not included in the above description, the effective height is determined by calculating the electric field in order to calculate the spatial potential at the maximum electric field of the surrounding ground and the spatial potential at the start of the reader. This calculation method is described in “Modeling of lightning occurrence for high-rise buildings, Part I: Theory” (Farouk AMRizk, IEEE paper, power supply, Vol. 9, No. 1, January 1994, pp. 162-171) and In addition, it is described in “Intensity of switching impulse in air insulator: criteria for starting leader” (Farouk AMRizk, IEEE paper, power supply, Vol. 4, No. 4, October 1989, pp. 2187-2195). ing.

  1 to 3, a lightning protection device 10 according to the general principle of the present invention is shown. In FIG. 1, the lightning protection device 10 is mounted on the ground 12, while in FIG. 2, the lightning protection device is mounted on the top of the structure 14 to be protected. As shown, a lightning protection device 10 according to the present invention includes a grounded Franklin rod 16 and a conductive device attached to the Franklin rod 16 and defining a predetermined overall shape 20 around a predetermined size. 18. As can be more clearly understood by reading the specification of the present application, the conductive device 18 has a predetermined upside ground potential where the continuous upward leader starting spatial potential is less than the spatial potential of the maximum electric field of the surrounding ground. Due to the position, it has a special shape and size such that in both dry and wet conditions, the corona start space potential of the protective device coincides with the continuous upward leader start space potential. . In addition, the conductive device 18 may have a corona start space of the protective device for other predetermined locations above the ground where the continuous upward leader start space potential exceeds the spatial potential of the maximum electric field of the surrounding ground. The potential is above the spatial potential of the maximum electric field of the surrounding ground and below the continuous upward leader starting spatial potential, and the corona starting spatial potential of the protective device is a surface protrusion with respect to contamination. It has a special shape and size that is substantially unreactive. Conveniently, the device's corona-initiated space potential is substantially unreactive at surface protrusions with respect to contamination, eg, contamination by contaminants, pests, insects, water droplets.

  Of course, the conventional lower conductor and grounding system remains unchanged to meet the requirements of NFPA (American Fire Protection Association) Standard 780.

  In the preferred embodiment shown, the conductive device 18 is advantageously provided with a plurality of metal toroids 22 suitably disposed along the rod 16. The toroids 22 are electrically coupled to and around the Franklin rod 16 and are preferably electrically coupled to each other individually. As shown, each toroid 22 has a predetermined large diameter, which is arranged to define the overall shape 20 as a sphere around the Franklin rod 16. Although not shown, as an alternative embodiment, it can be envisaged that the toroid 22 is mounted so as to form an elliptical shape around the rod 16. In connection with FIG. 1, various parameters are defined below, where r is the toroid's small radius, R is the widest toroid's overall radius, n is the number of toroids, and h is the center radius. The height of the toroid from the ground.

The lightning protection device of the present invention whose outline has been described above is specifically designed to satisfy the following conditions.
Considering the effective height h of the air terminal, the average value at the maximum ambient electric field along the height or length of the air terminal is considered to correspond to E _gm . Correspondingly, the maximum space potential generated by the slow surrounding ground electric field is given by:
U _gm = E _gm · h (1)
A typical E _gm value at a moderately elevated air terminal from flat ground is “Atmospheric electricity in unstable weather” (Geophysics and Academic Journal, British Meteorological Agency, London, 84, 1949) Pp. 1-51) will be 20 kV / m as described by G. Simpson. In addition, "Model for the start of switching impulse reader and destruction of long air gap" (Farouk AMRizk, IEEE paper, power supply, Vol. 4, No. 1, January 1989, pages 596-606) " In addition, “Intensity of switching impulse of air insulator: Criteria for starting leader” (Farouk AMRizk, IEEE paper, related to power supply, Vol. 4, No. 4, October 1989, pp. 2187 to 2195) As described, for an air terminal at an effective height h from the ground, a positive continuous leader starting space potential can be expressed as:
U _Ic = 1556 / (1 + 3.89 / h) (kV, m) (2)
In connection with the above, in order to determine the effective height limit, quoting Equation (1) and Equation (2) above,
E _gm · h _o = 1556 / (1 + 3.89 / h _o ) (3)
From the above, the following is obtained.
h _o = 1556 / E _gm −3.89 (m, kV / m) (4)

In general, E _gm depends on the surrounding topology. As mentioned above, for a lightning rod mounted on a flat ground, E _gm can be 20 kV / m, so that for this particular case h _o is 74 m Is acceptable.

When following h <h _o, maximum space potential U _gm, thanks to the electric field around the ground, will be lower than the positive continuous leader inception space potential U _Ic. Within this effective height range, any tendency of the air terminal to self-protection is that at the spatial potential U _gm , the potential at which point on the surface of the air terminal is equal to the corona onset electric field E _ci . Or it can be prevented by the following. For any value of space potential, i.e. for the electric field of the surrounding ground and the height of the air terminal, the electric field at any point on the surface of the air terminal is determined by a numerical electric field calculation technique, e.g. charging simulation. be able to. This is described in “Charging simulation method for calculation of high voltage electric field” (IEEE paper, PAS-93, No. 5, September / October 1974, pp. 1660-1668). Disclosed by H. Stenbigler and P. Weiss. The geometric parameters r, R, and n in the preferred arrangement for the conductive device described above should be selected such that the maximum applied field at U _gm is equal to the corona onset potential E _ci . This corona onset potential E _ci is described in “Electrical strength of air gap insulation” (by L. Thione) in “Surge in high voltage networks” (K. Ragallar, pp. 165-205, 1979). It is expressed by the following formula.
E _ci = 2300 [1 + 0.224 / (2r) ^0.37 ] (kV / m, m) (5)
Here, r is the small radius of the toroid of the conductive device. It should be noted that a slight decrease in E _ci due to surface roughness can be indirectly considered in the E _gm selection.

for the air terminal at the top of the flat ground at the time of the h> h _o, space potential that corresponds to the leader inception space voltage to be continuously represented by the equation (2), it will actually become constant at about 1500kV . Within this height range, the parameters r, R, and n in the above preferred conductive device are selected so that at this spatial potential, the resulting electric field can satisfy the corona onset field of equation (5) above. It should be.

  Preferably, a practically limited number of air terminal dimensions could be used to cover the designed space potential steps, for example 200 kV or less, 200 kV to 400 kV, 400 kV to 600 kV, etc.

  For the actual height of the air terminal, the calculation of the electrodes in the above formulas (1) and (2) is based on the effective height of the air terminal, and the designed space potential is in the range of about 200-1500 kV. Can be changed. The terminal electrode design parameters indicated that the overall radius R could be varied within the range 10-100 cm. The radius r of the tubular conductor can be varied within the range of 0.5-2.5 cm. The numerical value n of the tubular annular feature can be selected within the range of 6 to 12 so as to properly occupy space along the circumference of the spherical surface. The insensitivity of the recommended terminal electrode shape to rain could be confirmed by testing positive switching impulses over a long air gap. This is an example of the literature cited in this application: “Effects of rain on the discharge start voltage of the switching impulse of a large electrode air gap” (FAMRizk, IEEE paper, connection of power devices and systems, PAS- No. 95, No. 4, July / August 1976, pages 1394-1402). For a tubular toroid electrode with an overall radius R of 75 cm, a toroid radius r of 1.25 cm and a toroid number n = 8, under artificial rain, with a discharge starting voltage of 50% positive switching impulse. 987 kV. The IEC standard 60, that is, the standard reaching 982 kV is satisfied. This indicates that rain does not actually affect the breakdown and therefore does not affect the positive leader starting voltage of the lightning protection device of the present invention. For the same gap that completely covers a smooth spherical electrode with a diameter of 1 m, the corresponding breakdown voltage is from 1481 kV under dry conditions, as described later on the basis of the scientific references mentioned above, under rain. To 897 kV.

An impressive physical description of the lightning protection device of the present invention in laboratory testing is considered as follows.
The uncovered tubular toroid sphere collects much less precipitation than the entire spherical surface.
Raindrops tend to be collected on the lower surface of the toroidal tube between successive toroids with a reduced electric field.
-Due to the smaller tubular radius compared to a smooth spherical tube of the same diameter, disturbance by water drops or contaminants becomes less important.

  According to the present invention, any standard Franklin rod can advantageously be deformed by wrapping it in a set of metal toroids of various sizes. It should be noted that the rod can be individually coupled to form a lightning protection device.

  Although the figure shows that the toroids are oriented horizontally, it should also be noted that they can be oriented vertically as an example of a non-limiting example in another direction. However, it will not work well when the toroid is oriented vertically. Although the difference may be small, moisture and water droplets will not form as the electric field is reduced when the toroid is oriented horizontally by forming in locations where there is no electric field.

  Those skilled in the art related to the present invention will readily understand that the lightning protection device according to the present invention can be used where the lightning rod has been used.

  Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in the specification with reference to the accompanying drawings, the present invention is not limited to the detailed embodiments described above, and various modifications and improvements depart from the scope of the present invention. It will be understood that this can be done without doing so.

Claims (5)

A lightning protection device comprising: a grounded Franklin rod; and a conductive device defining a predetermined overall shape having a predetermined peripheral size electrically coupled to the Franklin rod;
The conductive device is configured to protect the protective device in both dry and wet conditions due to a predetermined position above the ground where the continuous upward leader starting space potential is less than the space potential of the maximum electric field of the surrounding ground. A shape and a size such that the coronal start space potential of the second line coincides with the continuous upward leader start space potential, and the continuous upward leader start space potential is a space of the maximum electric field of the surrounding ground. For other predetermined positions above the ground above the potential, the corona start space potential of the protective device is above the space potential of the maximum electric field of the surrounding ground and the continuous upward leader start Lightning protection having a shape and size that is below the space potential and the corona onset space potential of the protection device is substantially unreactive at the surface protrusions for contamination Location.   The lightning protection device of claim 1, wherein the conductive device includes a plurality of metallic toroids disposed along the Franklin rod, each toroid being coupled to the Franklin rod.   The lightning protection device according to claim 2, wherein each of the toroids has a predetermined large diameter and a predetermined small diameter, and is disposed so as to define a shape of the entire toroid as a spherical shape.   3. The lightning protection device according to claim 2, wherein each of the toroids has a predetermined large diameter and a predetermined small diameter, and is arranged to define the shape of the entire toroid as an elliptical shape.   The lightning protection device of claim 2, wherein the Franklin rod extends substantially vertically, and each of the toroids extends substantially horizontally around the Franklin rod.

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